Monday, May 4, 2009

Worldview: India Gala

Sunday 3rd May was our culminating event. A gala at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. The exhibition included art created by students of Harlem Park Elementary/Middle and James Mosher Elementary, a puppet show of the Indian epic the Ramayana by students from Harlem Park who had worked with Black Cherry Puppet Theatre during their residency at the school and dance performances by students who had worked with Lakshmi Swaminathan during her recent residencies at both schools. Students, faculty, friends and families enjoyed the exhibition and performances and Indian treats of chai and naan bread provided by the  Akbar restaurant.                                         Stacie, Marnee, Sush, Morag and Lakshmi





A wonderful time was had by all. We were so pleased to see so many people come out, and some travel so far,  to support our students in spite of the rainy grey weather. It was really something special for our students to see their work in such a salubrious setting. Many patrons of the Walters who happened upon the exhibit stayed to enjoy the show. We are so proud of our students and the beautiful and creative work they have done this year. 























We are deeply grateful to our friends, families, funders and partners who made this year's Worldview project possible;
Amanda Kodeck
Lindsey Anderson 
Brittany Powell
Iandry Randriamandroso
Joyce Akintilo, Principal, William Allen, Assistant Principal and staff of Harlem Park Elementary/Middle
Cascelia Spears, Principal, Cynthia Williams, Assistant Principal and staff of James Mosher Elementary
Larry Friend, Co-ordinator of Fine Arts for City Schools

We will continue to post work as the students complete their final projects of the school year over the next few weeks and post a link on this blog to next years project when it starts in August.
Thank you all for your interest and support
Morag & Marnee

It takes a global village to raise a child.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Shishadur


Students transformed paper bags into shishadur or mirror embroidery vests. Shishadur is the ancient east Indian art of stitching bits of mirror to cloth. lesson is from the book 'Brown Bag Ideas From Many Cultures' by Irene Tejada. Students used tempera paint, tin foil and sequens to make their 'shishadur'.

Indian Dancer

Fourth grade student Mawuena's interpretation of an Indian dancer from a poster in the classroom.

Lotus

Pre-Kindergarten students used sponges to print their lotus leaves and painted on coffee filters to make their lotus flowers. Lotus are the national flower of India.

Marigold Garland

We have been growing marigolds in the classroom and looking at pictures of how marigolds are used for celebrations in India. Students cut tissue paper into flower shapes and strung them together with straw stems to make their own marigold garlands.

Dancing with Lakshmi

Everyone from Pre-Kindergarten to eighth grade had a ball with Lakshmi Swaminathan. Following Lakshmi's kick-off performance for the whole school last week, this week Lakshmi conducted workshops with individual classes. Everyone got to ask questions about Indian culture, try on clothes, have mehndi designs drawn on their palms, wear bindis and learn some traditional and modern dance moves. Even our principal was up and dancing! Thanks again to Young Audiences of Maryland for funding 90% of this residency through their Access for All
grant.
 






Earth Day Milk Carton Project





Students worked with Parks and People MICA intern Iandry Randriamandroso to recycle milk cartons into planters for marigolds. The eighth grade students then taught younger students how to recycle and plant their seeds in cartons that the older and younger students painted together.

Photographs of our workshop with Sushmita

Students had a wonderful time making their amulet books with Sushmita



Ramayana



Second and third grade students have been reading 'Rama and the Demon King' The bag puppets of the ten headed demon Ravana and the beautiful princess Sita were made by second grade students. The collage of Hanuman the monkey general was made by a third grade student.

Wildlife














Students have been studying  India's wildlife. Pre-k painted lions, first grade painted crocodiles on foil rivers and  transformed paper bags into ferocious tigers. Second grade students used paper plates to make their lion masks.

Boxes


Fifth grade students researched traditional indian patterns then painted their favorites on cardboard boxes. The students added acrylic 'jewels' for some extra sparkle.

Cooperative Rangoli

























Students worked individually and in cooperative groups to created their painted rangoli designs.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

I Wish, I Dream, I Hope, I Promise....


On the 17th Sushmita came to James Mosher and worked with a 1st grade class. It was amazing to see how excited the kids were to make books and to have someone new in the classroom. The kids asked, " are you a real Indian?" Sush showed the students a prayer wheel and talked about how it sent the hopes dream and wishes out. Then she talked about different kinds of books and how they can be personal. 

The kids then made amulet books with Sush, but due to limited time were unable to decorate them and write their  hopes and dreams. Last week the class talked about what they could put in them and they added promises to the list of sentiment to put in their amulet books.  Above are examples of what they wrote... on the left "I wish my grandfather was alive." "I wish I was a princess" and "I wish I was a firefighter" the picture on the bottom says, " I wish money would fall from the sky." On the right they say "I wish I get the girl." "I wish I had a million dollars." and "I wish I had powers." On the last one says, "I wish grownups was gone. " The last one is my favorite. I remember being a kid and wishing the same thing. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Walter's Art Museum Gala

Our culminating activity is rushing forward like a windstorm. We are scheduling performers, discussing displays and inviting those who have helped make our project happen. On Sunday May 3rd  from 2-4 pm at the Walters Art Museum; Worldview will present the exhibition of all that we have done. All are invited as the museum is open  and admission is free.  Here is the picture from our save the date card.  These are the Bengal tiger masks made by the first grade. 

I did a short stint in after-school programing and the kids all made prosperity birds. First and second graders made huge (2 foot) stuffed paper prosperity birds and the forth and fifth graders made cloth ones like the ones in the previous post (these went home at Christmas ornaments). The third grade learned about stenciling and made these pictures. 

More Elephants










I have two class making papier mache piggy banks. One of the classes only has 3 students and they really get stuff done. They are ready to decorate their elephants with parade outfits and cut a hole already. They are very excited about eh work they are doing in class. I am also having a lot of fun working with them.


Mosaic Madness


Lis Gambino from Sharp Leadenhall Elementary showed up with the most beautiful mosaic her students had done for Black History Month and an exhibit for Baltimore City Schools. I love the result, so I worked with the two classes of kids with autism at my school. We focused on color matching and small motor skills (cutting with scissors) and following directions. I love the job they did on this parade elephant. This mosaic is bout 4 feet by 3 feet and took both classes about 2 sessions each to complete. 

A Bask of Crocodiles


Crocodlies pant like dogs to cool off and bask in the sun to warm up their cold blood. Because they lay around together; a group of crocodiles is called a bask. Last week Mr. Trahan's first grade class sculpted feet for their papier mache crocodiles out of play dough. After drying I glued them on and the kids gave their crocs a few finishing touches. 

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Amulet Books with Sushmita Mazumdar


Students at James Mosher and Harlem Park are looking forward to their upcoming workshops with Sushmita Mazumdar. Sushmita is from Mumbai and is an artist/writer and a  docent at the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler galleries. Sushmita creates handmade story books and will be making amulet books with students. This workshop will teach students about Buddhist traditions and deal with private and public hopes and dreams. We are very lucky to have Sushmita volunteer to share her skills with our students.


Sunday, March 29, 2009

Indian Dance with Lakshmi Swaminathan

Both JMES and HPE/MS schools have been given funds by Access for All through Young Audiences of Maryland. With this grant we have are having artist-in-residence Lakshmi Swaminathan to teach Indian culture, storytelling and traditional Indian dance. Ms. Swaminathan came to JMES while I was instructing the first grade students. She took the opportunity to teach them the representational dance movements for the Indian animals they have been learning about. They were so excited as they flapped their arms and tried to mimic Lakshimi's movements. Lakshmi will teach 2nd and 3rd graders at JMES. Ms. Swaminathan and students from both schools will perform at The Walters Art Museum for our culminating activity on May 3rd. 

Portraits

Wow I was so proud of the time and effort the kids put into this assignment. This student has gone through a wild transformation and is one of my better and most enthusiastic students. The idea was to make a self portrait wearing Indian inspired clothing. The background is the Himalayan Mountains. 

Crocodiles Are Fast















Did you know that a crocodiles can run up to 7mph? Yeah, you can out run a crocodile but unfortunately if you are standing by the water's edge it isn't likely that you'll get the chance. A crocodile can strike before you know what is happening. The 1st grade has definitely learned not to taunt a croc. They have also learned how to tell them apart from alligators (this is difficult with Indian mugger crocs as they have broad noses) and the characteristics of a reptile. All this wonderful science while making their own mugger from egg crates and papier mache. The bodies are done and the feet are sculpted from play dough.  Now assembling them and adding teeth is all that is left.